Cairo + Luxor: pyramids and the Valley of the Kings instead of a week in a resort
Everyone flies to Egypt, and almost always to the sea. Meanwhile the main thing is a thousand kilometres from the beach, and an overnight train goes there.
Why not only Giza
Everyone knows the pyramids, but ancient Egypt is above all Thebes — today's Luxor: Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, the temple of Hatshepsut. Cairo holds the beginning of the story and the main museum; Luxor holds its continuation, still standing where it was built. A trip to Cairo alone leaves the feeling that you looked at the cover.
Cairo: three days
The Giza pyramids and the Sphinx at opening, because by noon there is both heat and coaches. The Grand Egyptian Museum by the plateau is new, enormous, and has finally gathered in one place what lay cramped for decades: allow a separate visit for the Tutankhamun treasures. Saqqara with the step pyramid of Djoser, the earliest of them all, and Dahshur with the Bent Pyramid — half a day, and far quieter. Islamic Cairo with the Khan el-Khalili bazaar and the mosques deserves its own evening; Coptic Cairo its own morning.
Luxor: four days
The east bank holds the temples of the living: Karnak, with a hypostyle hall whose columns are thicker than photographs suggest, and Luxor temple, best under lights in the evening. The west bank holds the temples of the dead: the Valley of the Kings with painted tombs, Hatshepsut's temple in its rock amphitheatre, the Colossi of Memnon. A dawn balloon flight over the west bank is the rare case where the attraction is genuinely useful: from the air you see how narrow the strip of green along the Nile is.
Getting there
An overnight sleeper train runs between Cairo and Luxor — about ten hours, and the most sensible option: it saves a day and a hotel night. There is also a flight of a little over an hour. From Luxor many continue by boat to Aswan along the Nile with stops at Edfu and Kom Ombo — if the trip runs longer than a week, that is its best continuation.
When to go
November–March. In summer Luxor reaches forty-five in the shade, and there is no shade: seeing the temples turns into an endurance test. In winter it is twenty-five by day, cool at night, and those are ideal conditions. Note that winter is high season: the Valley of the Kings and the balloons get busy, and booking early pays.
A Nile cruise
The classic continuation from Luxor is a boat to Aswan: three or four nights with stops at Edfu, with its temple of Horus, and Kom Ombo, where the sanctuary is split evenly between two gods. The format's advantage is that you move at night and see the sites in the morning without packing every day. In Aswan there is the temple of Philae on its island, the granite quarries with an unfinished obelisk, and a Nubian village. Abu Simbel with the colossi of Ramesses is a separate early start or a short flight.
Tickets and timing
In the Valley of the Kings the standard ticket admits you to three tombs of your choice, while the famous ones — Tutankhamun, Seti I, Nefertari in the neighbouring Valley of the Queens — are sold separately and cost noticeably more. Photography inside usually needs its own permit. Sites open early, and that is the best time: coaches arrive by ten and the stone is scorching by noon. Balloon and tomb tickets are easier arranged through your hotel — the queue at the office is sometimes longer than the outing itself.
Practical matters
A visa is issued on arrival. Prepare for persistent sellers and «helpers» at the monuments — a polite, firm no works; arguing does not. Small banknotes are needed constantly. Drink bottled water only, and that is not over-caution.
Moscow → Cairo → Luxor
Route and nights go into the form — adjust the date and passengers.